There are Changes Afoot – NaBloPoMo post one

Posted in DIY home, house - gardens, Journal, NaBloPoMo by

Our bare patch is starting to take on its own identity. During a small break in the weather on Monday (public holiday, so of course it was raining!) Si dug a couple of holes along the inside of the new front fence and I planted the original mandarin (no idea what variety, but at least in the six months since I started nursing it in a pot the root ball has grown to be more than my fist and there are plenty of new shoots) and a Thumbelina Ruby Crunch apple that Sarah DB found for me at Bunnings. It’s perfect, so perfect – it has been pruned in anticipation of the end user wanting to espalier it along a fence, and the dude said that if I was careful, I would have fruit this coming autumn. So excited! However it is like me to jump into something. I have never espalier’d anything previously so am taking a crash Google course.

anticipating these next autumn!

anticipating these next autumn!

my intention is that it looks like the tree on the brick wall

my intention is that it looks like the tree on the brick wall

There are also lots more flowers on my boysenberry brulee. Nom. They are so pretty!

On the other side of the yard a heap of blue metal poles have risen. We inherited a playground from a school the boys attended with the intention that we would put it up in the back yard – then we made plans to sell the house so everything has been sitting around for years. Finally getting there – plans for three platforms. Number one is quite low (our property has a slope) and the ladder/climb wall will get you to the top. From here you will move to Two via the chain/plank swinging bridge. From Two you can skim along to Three via a Flying Fox (if you haven’t figured it out by now, I am not a PC person and my philosophy is that if the kids break an arm, so what? They’ll heal. And Bullrush is good for you. So There). Or you can exit Two via the slide. The exit plan for Three is either back to Two or the Fireman’s Pole. I expect the kids to add the Trampoline to their plans too, and this is more than likely where the broken arm will appear. This side of the house is the opposite to the living area, flanked by the ROW drive on the other side and I never had any glam plans for it at all. It seems right that the kids have their own area but I hope it doesn’t stop the Screaming Teen from moving out eventually!

pardon the scribble - this was version one

pardon the scribble – this was version one

Someone Needs A Name

Posted in books, Journal, NaBloPoMo, Nora Corbett, stitching patterns by

As I sat in the sun on Saturday high up in the Waitakeres, I had NO desire to work on Jug. This may be why she is taking so long – sometimes I hate the way she is looking. I also wonder where she will fit in my (far too) masculine home – in a way I don’t care about when it comes to the Corbett Sleigh and reindeer (they are going up regardless). So I listened to the birdsong (at least until the chainsaws started) and took out a new start. I’ve been carrying around the beads, along with the fabric, working copy and DMC 310 for ages. And ages. Fred needs a friend, right?

much interupted, but progress (about four stitching opportunities)

much interupted, but progress (about four stitching opportunities)

Feel free to submit name suggestions. He is going to be the Yellow Figbird (NC187, in case you give a crap). Eventually he’ll end up like this, only I have changed out the background blue as per Lynne’s suggestion to be DMC 827. The charted 3846 just looks wrong when up next to Fred, so I’ll carry 827 into the next two birds as well. And does anyone know the flower? Sort of reminds me of a magnolia. Is that what it is?

Twitter peeps will know that on Sunday I spent the afternoon at a Bunnings in South Auckland working on a BBQ for charity. A good friend, Mel, is running the half marathon this Sunday for the Auckland City Mission & all the proceeds of the BBQ went to the participants’ charity pool. There were 6 of us in total – over $460 raised which I don’t think was too bad for a wet Sunday. I’ll never run any distance for charity (let’s be honest, I don’t even run for me) so this is one way I can help out. The Mission does amazing work in a field I am so uncomfortable with and sometimes I think those less glamorous charities get lost in the noise. Hardly a week goes by without someone calling for a donation for something and “traditional” charities are getting drowned out, like the SPCA. I tend to support what I see as tangible and practical, which will clearly be different from your priorities. And that’s fine.

When it comes to NaBloPoMo plans (which starts tomorrow for me, eep!) I have gone OK. There are some reoccurring themes (WIP Wednesday for one) as I think I will be more likely to finish the challenge if I have some “gimme” days. So far I have five days unplanned and I have some posts part-written already. This is because I should really be working as Sunday was the End of Month (and Quarter) here at work, and people want their reports. How unreasonable! I did escape the grind for a bit yesterday and went to Living & Giving, our gift chain, which has a store in St Lukes. Massive 40% off Ecoya (actually all candles and fragrances, with 30% off everything else but I only wanted Ecoya, along with everyone else I know) and got a pillar candle in beautiful Vanilla Bean, and two of the limited edition Pine jars to get the house smelling like Christmas. That is the one thing with an asthmatic kid – no real tree. But at least my house will smell “right” – and this will overpower the Screaming Teen’s boy room smell. Or at least that is the plan!

Reading – I finished The Lady in Red and had one of those book hangover periods where nothing was good enough. I’m not quite ready to move onto something else “serious” so I am re-reading K.S. Nikakis’ Kira Chronicles again. Nikakis’ first book of the trilogy was her debut; Mel gave it to me years ago as an ARC and I loved it so much I sulked when I had to pass it onto someone else. I have all three on my reader. Very original high fantasy with the main character, Kiraon, being a young girl. Traditional fantasy elements and it’s blood thirsty enough to appeal to two of my brats. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/k-s-nikakis/ unfortunately her next works are still in progress. Hurry up!

NaNaNaNaNa…oops, I meant NaBloPoMo, k?

Posted in Journal, NaBloPoMo by

NaBloPoMo_November

Don’t know what NaBloPoMo is? You can read about it on the BlogHer site here: NaBloPoMo Is Here! But the short version is that it stands for National Blog Posting Month – an event for bloggers that goes alongside National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Rather than finish a novel in 30 days, bloggers commit to writing or posting at least one new thing to their blog every day. That’s new content every single day. It’s quite a challenge! (I stole that bit from here: http://littlethreadcrafts.com/2014/10/28/nablopomo-is-almost-here/ )

 

SO I have a couple of days to think/chart/record blog posts, then the real work begins. Should be interesting!

December Daily prep

Posted in Journal, me, Nora Corbett, Project Life, scrapping challenges by

Si was out tonight so I started to pull together my DD for this year. The big goal is not to journal every day (I can catch up) but to not spend on the papers etc. I did buy the Stampin’ Up PL 6×8 & a heap of inserts but I want to get some hand dyed fabric from Catherine for the Nora Corbett reindeer, & that needs to be matching so best that I purchase enough for six at the same time.

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My cover is deliberately simple. I don’t want this to clash with other stuff on the shelf. Plus I’m not a frills person.

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Then a whole heap of stuff for the inside. Mostly a variety of Project Life cards, but the filofax inserts fit too. Brads & flourishes from Kaiser, Basic Grey scraps; this is on a budget.

While I haven’t totally planned each day, I do have a basic layout. And cards will be added once the season is over and they no longer need to be displayed. So write to me, people, & I’ll return the favour.

Planning to succeed. Whoops, that sounds a bit pratty.

buzz kill

Posted in me by

I’ll confess; I LOVE (still) some of the older fairy/fantasy movies. They had script, acting, and weren’t formulaic. Think The Princess Bride – My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die…” Think heroes, proper villans (who had real motivation to be bad and couldn’t be excused and had no desire to rehabilitate themselves).

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I went thru a massive Bowie phase and still enjoy the Henson mov, Labyrinth, that he and Jennifer Connelly and a massive amount of puppets starred in. Still have the paperback novel (as I do for The Princess Bride and no kids, you are not allowed to touch!) Then today I saw this in the Herald:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11341504

Gutted. I am being a sceptic but I think they will ruin one of my (non) guilty pleasures. And while I wasn’t into The Dark Crystal, I’m thinking this shouldn’t have a sequel either!

For those of you who care, here’s a link that tries to explain why Jareth kidnapped this baby… http://glamdamnit.tumblr.com/post/55713093884/my-sister-asked-if-the-events-of-the-labyrinth which is plausable…yes dammit, I know it’s fiction!

 

Inspiration

Posted in grateful by

sorry – I tried to post this last night but the phone app wouldn’t function 😦

 

Yesterday a twitter “friend” passed away. I loved tweeting with Jared; I found his comments witty, clever, kind, inspirational, lovely and FAITHFUL. Jared was in an awful position; a young man, husband, new father-to-be, doctor – and suffered from an awful disease. Thanks to stranger’s generosity he was able to fund treatment which allowed him to meet his daughter – he was even well enough to be present at her birth.

 

I first came across Jared as a result of his photography; he was always generous with his knowledge. I expect that his patients also feel the same; and I feel so sorry for his family and friends and colleagues, but amazed that through everything Jared held onto his faith, was so full of grace and beauty. He is now with the Lord.

 

Jared’s blog: http://jarednoel.wordpress.com

Stuff article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10595242/Doctor-dies-after-living-to-see-daughter

20/20 video: http://tvnz.co.nz/20-20-news/living-dying-video-5186876

 

oh oh yeah yeah yeah yeah

Posted in family, house - gardens, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Project Life by

I’m currently reading “The Lady in Red” which is a biography about Lady Seymour Worsley, who was the centrepiece of a major Georgian trial in February 1782. Seymour was a contemporary of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire (yes, that Duchess as in the movie) and until I got to page 141, I didn’t realise her antics far outstripped that of the Duchess. I’d resisted reading any further than a brief synopsis on Amazon, so imagine my eyes popping out of my head…

I started reading as an offshoot of my Tudor reading (Seymour’s husband was a direct descendant of that Worsley) and because I’ve always liked Regency/Georgian history. What I didn’t realise is that this bio is like a train wreck – you know someone’s made an absolute mess of things but you can’t stop reading.

The centrepiece of this is a Criminal Conversion trial against a Maurice George Bisset by Sir Richard Worsley and also Sir Richard’s movement to restrict his wife further, after she had gone against convention and run away with his fellow officer, Bisset. Picture this – Worsley is screened from view in the open court forum of the Court of the King’s Bench. His four lawyers have presented what seems like a water-tight case of adultery and “crim. con.” against Bisset, and he can feel that the jurors are on his side (he was asking an almost impossible sum, twenty thousand pounds damages) and soon all the embarrassment will be over.

Then the defence lawyers, namely one Edward Bearcroft, drop the bomb. As Justice Mansfield has stated, “If a Plantiff encourages, or is privy to, or consenting at all, or contributing to the debauchery of his Wife, or joined in it, he ought not to recover a verdict.”

Bearcroft then starts to reveal Seymour’s marital history. “Prior connections to such an extent that the idea of seduction by the present Defendant was totally done away”.

So this is the bit that I am now up to. Annoyed that I have to put it down and return to my spreadsheets! Altho it is starting to sound a bit like a Women’s Day or Slater/Whale Oil salacious “news” article, ick.

Non-affiliate link: http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Red-Eighteenth-Century-Scandal-Divorce/dp/B0071UN9CI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412622484&sr=1-1&keywords=the+lady+in+red

If you like the thought of this one, also try my absolute fav, the biography of Jane Digby (the cover is coming off, and yes, I actually kept the print version!) http://www.amazon.com/Scandalous-Life-Biography-Jane-Digby/dp/1857024699/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=15DZ27YSD4HTTVPVCWCX Anything by Mary S. Lovell is well worth the hunt.

 

On other news, tonight is Date Night. We’re off to see Gone Girl (hopefully) dependant on Si’s physio appt.

Stitching – still on the mermaid and I haven’t picked up Stargazer in weeks, if not months. I’m so tired! Yesterday got given some meds and discussed further treatment options. A couple of choices ahead. What is apparent is that I can’t keep up with having an iron level as low as it has been. I didn’t even dare tell the doctor about the dizzy spells.

Stayed up late Sunday to watch the Rabbitohs thump the Bulldogs. WOO HOO! One of the best Grand Finals I’ve seen in a while, courage on the field and little dirty play. The ref also didn’t decide the game, the players did, which is an improvement on some of the season’s games. Mase now wants me to buy him Souths jammies when we go to Sydney later on this year, while B is telling me he was only wearing his Bulldogs gear because it was all he had (cough). Yeah, right.

Project Life – caught up on June, July & August. Need a few hours each weekend and that is hard to find!

Gardening – got all the seedlings out and the weather turned nasty. Resigned to re-sowing the tomatoes and cucumbers. Some basil & Italian parsley that I had on the windowsill are thriving in the old coffee cans. Can’t wait to make my own pesto. The rosemary cuttings that were on the windowsill are doing ok too, out in the pot on the patio. Starting to plan how I will plant out the top end of the section but this is a little restricted, given the stormwater drain running along the fence line.

new month, new journal prompts

Posted in family, Journal, me by

http://fabrilicious.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/october-1st/

So, let’s start with just a single word for today’s prompt. It is open to a number of interpretations – and that’s the best sort of word 😉

 

Yesterday’s word was: DATE and as Myfanwy says, it raises a lot of images/thoughts.

  • fruit that I absolutely HATE. Gutted the other night to open the chocolate chip container and find a packet of these things inside. My eldest can be mean sometimes.
  • the calendar ticking over and over, speeding up as we head into summer then Christmas. I wanted to slow down & enjoy these first few days of long summer-ish nights but that isn’t happening for me.
  • what I cancelled the other night when I realised that the movie I wanted to see didn’t debut until the next day. So seeing Gone Girl next week; I made special dinner instead.

I am probably more likely to journal here than make this into an art journal as per the hints but a little writing is better than none!

Yesterday was also the first visit from the clinical therapist for B & his concussion. Gave light to a few things and I’m happy that we are getting some answers. I did make him walk and walk last night and I have no idea if he wandered last night as I slept thru! The night before was a bad one; he was unsettled and I lost count at 15 times. I will try to get him a Polar Loop like mine as then we can monitor his sleep & activity a lot easier.

Bashing & Crashing

Posted in Uncategorized by

I spent most of today up at the Scenic Drive house. Starting to fall in love with some parts of it.

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The view from the study book w

This. Oak tree in the pot,  waterfall in the ponds behind. I love the sound water can make. Thinking the previous owners a little insane for putting such a large tree into a pot but it looks pretty. Oversize bonsai? Must Google that.

I started on most of the removal projects today but got hussled by K and the FIL (Si was out shopping,  he’d be happy if the next job was with Bunnings). I was really looking forward to more bash.

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This unit is gone,  as is the pointless bookshelf that was on the other side of the window. Barely wide enough for cd’s let alone books.  Pissed the cat off a bit, movrf down to the study.

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This was ugly. Gone now!

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Looking up. Always looking up.

Also have a bit of bike envy. She brought back a mountain bike that I think I’ll grab once she is done – the idiot was only fractionally taller than me so should be OK. Or buy myself one with my bonus next year.

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Tomorrow planning a long,  quiet walk. Think I need some space!